Mazarine Blue
by serp-derp
Summary: "If you like me back, then let's go out." Love was a straightforward matter to Aoi, if you like each other, then you like each other. Romantic love, platonic love, her opinion never changed. But Aomine Daiki did. He kept turning and twisting and eventually she could no longer recognise the man in front of her. But Aoi is so rad, she's fine being single. AomineOC.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kuroko no Basuke, or any copyright products, franchise and substances introduced in the story. (*) I wrote dis haiku. C: Be proud, be very proud. _I own it, do not steal my copyright papers or I will haunt you down using the skills I have acquired in my life and kill you very, very violently._

Wow guys, I was blown away by the attention to the prologue, _I am so happy desuu ne-._ This chapter is going right back to the Generation of Miracles days, I wanted to show you guys the depth of Aoi's relationships with her friends and her team mates. There was a reason (other than Daiki) that made Aoi really hesitate before leaving. Right, set just before Kise joins and Akashi goes commando, in case ya'll couldn't tell.

So, from this chapter on, let's play find the symbolism, okay~? C; Presented to you: The nine word doc pages of hard work and editing: Mazarine Blue.

**Edit 30/10/13:** After quite some thinking and pondering, I have decided to scrap the weird prologue. It messed up with the simple story line, and having the teiko arc end with a reference to tie up the prologue is unnecessary and lalableh. Even though this chapter is written with the knowledge that you guys have information from ze prologue, please tell if something doesn't fit or you just simply do not understand. Thank you very mu-ch.

* * *

"_Sudden summer rain,_

_Soaks the garden before dusk_—

_Cat licks early stars."_

_-Ruben O._

Chapter One: 湿気の多い Humid

It was in the middle of one very wet rainy season, when an outsider transferred to Teikou Middle.

"Nice to meet you, I am Murasaki Aoi."

She was nobody important to us, because she didn't play basketball, wasn't good at sport and had no talent in it at all.

"I recently moved from Kyoto because of my mother's occupation."

_Completely, utterly ordinary. _We do not concern ourselves with ordinary outsiders. Our circle was absolute and we were the best of the best, the top of the league; that was final and it was absolute. She did not belong in our circle, so we did not seek her out. There was no need, we were not interested.

"And eh… I like takoyaki, capoeira and painting, but my speciality is nuclear physics." Her hair hanged in dark ringlets and her mouth was in a constant state of amusement. She was a trophy girl, _which was pretty damn obvious. _Her pale skin would burn easily in the sun and her hands were much too soft for any hard labour._ An utter trophy girl._

But her eyes were different. Her eyes completely deviated from her complexion. They glinted with the same shine you might find on a cursed stone and were so damn _blue_ that they seemed out of place in the midst of her monochrome scheme.

It was almost like they were shining.

No.

They were **bloody **_sparkling _with glee when her eyes saw Murasakibara.

* * *

In the midst of the serene chirp of the cicadas, the silent buzz of the excitement of a new student was high.

"Hey Murasaki-chan! You want to eat lunch with us?"

"Hey Murasaki-chan, can I borrow your pencil for this class?"

"_Psh_, Murasaki-chan, I can't believe you forgot your textbook. Hehe~, you can borrow mine though."

_Murasaki-chan! Murasaki-san! Murasaki-sempai!_

What a happy and quirky day— Aoi was **very** pleased, _new friends, new friends._ But Murasakibara Atsushi was an idiot. Her attempts at befriending the purple monster were pretty much immediately battered away by the prospect of more food. _How utterly irritating, _Aoi clenched the glass vial tightly and flicked her hair back_. Super creepy, arrogant, over-sized, kindergarten jerktard, dumbass, indecent, insensitive, self-obsessed, sugar high, retarded idiot—_a glare from her partner next to her snapped Aoi out of her thoughts. _Right, focus on the experiment at hand, _(happy thoughts, happy thoughts)_Chemistry is a highly easy to understand subject if you simply follow the instructions. You are fantabulous at this. Don't fail. And well, memorise the facts too. Alright, find your happy place, chill bro chill—now, add two-hundred millilitres of copper sulphate solution-_

"**Murasaki Aoi! Look what you spilt, you stupid girl!"**

"Aw fishsticks, I'm really sorry Hana-chan!"

"I already told you not to call me that! It's Natsume, _NA-TSU-ME!"_

"A-Ah, I'm really sorry Natsume-chan."

"_**-san! Natsume-SAN!"**_

"I mean, I'm really sorry Natsume-san! I will clean it up right away!"

"You stupid girl! This is copper sulphate! Don't touch it, it's poisonous!"

"O-kay, I'll um, I'll-"

"_**You will sit right there, Murasaki Aoi."**_

So Aoi sat right there.

Natsume Hana was an interesting girl. She held authority in her stone black eyes and her chin always was up. Her father was the head of a well-known financial group and her mother was a fashion designer. Hana knew her abilities, knew her status and always seemed sure of what she was doing. She spoke with a blunt and icy tone, made sarcastic remarks and had a terrible sense of humour. In the eyes of the students, Hana was a strange girl.

But that suited Aoi just fine. If Murasakibara didn't want to be her friend, and wanted to continue living in social Siberia, then fine. Aoi is awesome and super cool, she makes friends **easily.** _Socializing is my thi-ng,_ the corners of Aoi's mouth quirked up just the slightest.

She _glowed_ in a crowd. It was her territory, her land and her happy place, because it was easy to disappear in a crowd of strangers. You could be a stranger, an imposter, even a murderer and no one would ever discover anything if you left no evidence. You can hide anything you want and nobody will look for it. Because the crowd were expendable blank faced strangers who did not know you.

So with that mindset, Aoi has never had a best friend. Everyone was treated equally. But all her friends were nameless, blank faced people she smiled and greeted each day and none of their relationships with Aoi ever changed. That was always just how the friendships started out and ended with. Each one knowing their places and their boundaries, and even if Aoi never intended for it to happen. The rules just fell into place, by themselves. _The invisible rules._

She never understood why things were the way they were.

"What are you dozing off for? Quick, help me clean out the test tubes." Aoi jolted out of her reminiscence by Natsume's icy voice. She stared at her bony, out-stretch hand that was holding the dirtied test tubes and blinked.

Then her face split into two with a massive toothy beam.

"What are grinning like an idiot for? Hurry up you stupid girl."

"Owie Hana-chan, I think you bruised my precious feel-ings."

"Hah, what feelings? You ain't got no 'precious feelings'—_**and I thought I told you not to call me that!**_**"**

"Ahaha, come on Hana-chan~."

"_**Murasaki!"**_

_Thwack._

"Owie!"

But Aoi liked Natsume Hana.

* * *

The air con whirled away quietly in the cold classroom, and outside, the summer sun shone lazily. Her class was silent, not a whisper. Quiet, so quiet: Just the way Aoi liked it. Only the occasional _thump_ of a pencil thrown away and the agitated groan to find a rubber interrupted the solitude. Everyone keeping their heads down and doing maths questions was nice. No one to disturb her early completion of the set questions.

Mathematics was another subject Aoi liked. It was straight forward and easy to ace. Remember the formulas and always be cautious was a mantra Aoi chanted in her head during maths tests. It continuously worked and never failed. _But there were always people who were better than the best,_ Aoi mused with a glint in her eyes, _like that Midorima Shintaro guy. Can't believe he received better marks than me in biology. Oh and Sir Rich Pants Akashi Shinjuro or something. He placed first I believe. Ain't that annoying. And if I remember correctly, his bloody underground fan club claimed he has never lost once. Screw dat. Probably has professional level tutors or something._

"Hey Murasaki-chan, who are you staring at?" Aoi glanced at her friendly acquaintance next to her desk: Akagahara Kotori—Arts Club President. She was a nice girl, even if she was a bit ditzy.

Aoi smiled, "No one interesting."

"Che, bullshit Murasaki. You have been staring a hole into the back Murasakibara-san's head for the whole of Maths class," Natsume Hana huffed quietly from Aoi's other side, but seeing a complaint surface Aoi's glinting eyes, Natsume cut in, "Just because you have finished the set questions, does not mean you can be bored enough to stare at Murasakibara's head. No one can be bored enough to stare a hole into his head."

Akagahara furrowed her eyebrows deep in thought, "I suppose so then."

Aoi blinked at Akagahara's response and carefully thought about how to word her next sentence, "Ah… What do you mean 'no one can be bored enough to stare a hole into his head'?"

Natsume sniffed. "You should just go and see the mock games. You'll understand after you've seen him play."

Aoi blinked. _Hah? Mock games? _She averted her eyes back to her textbook with annoyance. "What mock games…?" She grumbled to Natsume. _Mock games, bad memories._

"Ah? You didn't know? Murasakibara's in our school's basketball team."

_Basketball, eh? I hate ball games, so annoying._

"And _and_— He's not **just** in our school's basketball team, he's part of the four first years who made it into first string almost immediately!" Akagahara grinned.

_Oh wow, congratulations you jerktard. Soak up all the praise of 'talent' and 'fame' why don'tcha._

"He is also their center," Natsume added with a bitter undertone.

Aoi narrowed her eyes at Natsume's tone. "Eh, really? Fascinating," She muttered. Natsume rolled her eyes at Aoi's sudden disinterest, but when she looked over to Aoi again; her eyes had completely drifted away from this world.

Natsume frowned, that girl was planning something.

* * *

After the last class ended, the rush to get home, catch the train, the bus, go to Maji Burgers, pick up girls, or run to club activities, was like a matter of life or death. But Aoi had nothing better to do. She could dawdle home to the penthouse her mother rented, pig out at a food chain, or go find a club to join. But going home wasn't urgent; she calculated she had two and a half hours to kill before the deadline.

_Aw man, bor-ing._ _What to do, what to do?_

Aoi stood just in front of the entrance to the lockers. She paused there, her impassive eyes softened at the afternoon sky. It was such a gentle, lucid blue and the clouds were so soft and appeared to have floated right out of a watercolour painting.

_*Lone white drifters,_

_Unconcernedly watching—_

_A pastel canvas._

So pretty.

"Hey Murasaki-chan," Akagahara called out to Aoi from the shoe lockers, and successfully pulling Aoi away from dreamland.

Aoi turned and smiled, "Akagahara-chan."

Akagahara smiled back. _Murasaki-san always seems so distant._ She took her shoes out and thought about how to word her thoughts. _But I need to tell her, _"About Murasakibara-san," Akagahara began, "I mean, you should definitely visit the afterschool basketball training in the first gym. We have had many consecutive championships in our name and—"

"Akagahara-chan, thank you," Aoi's hard tone contradicted her soft smile as she cut Akagahara off, "But I don't like basketball." There was finality in Aoi's words that made Akagahara hesitate. She breathed out,

"Oh, okay. Sorry about—"

"Please do not misunderstand," Aoi cut in, "I don't like basketball because I suck at it."

Akagahara's eyes widened, "Oh I see."

The two packed up in silence.

_*An old stranger,_

_Met the other in silence,_

_The lone crow caws._

The randomness of the haiku almost caused Aoi is slap herself for daydreaming. _God damn._ But the haiku did its job though. With a decisive sigh, she straightened her back and pursed her lips. _Courage Aoi, have courage._

"Akagahara-chan," She began, "Does Natsume-chan have something to do with the basketball club?"

There was a stunned silence as: _Thwack. _Akagahara's phone slipped out of her hands and crashed onto the floor. Aoi widened her eyes, "Akagahara-chan?" She observed Akagahara's expression in her warm, chestnut eyes. There was disbelief. Calculation. Acknowledgment. A pregnant silence made Aoi doubt her planning. _So I am… right?_

"A-Ah sorry, I can't help you with that," Akagahara stammered out finally as she picked up her phone, "I mean, Natsume-san and I had a promise that I would not speak about it. We went to the same elementary school you see, our families are also close friends and um, it's really quite personal. Ah-but you could ask her herself, if you want."

Aoi blinked. "I see, thank you Kotori-san," She beamed, "You have just helped me make up my mind. Ah! I can call you Kotori-san, can't I? Akagahara-chan is quite a mouthful…"

Kotori smiled, "Yes sure."

"But you have to call me Aoi, okay?"

"Ah-Of cause, Aoi-chan."

Aoi smiled back, _Ha. I guess I am right._

* * *

Hot, sweaty, half-naked guys— Kotori promised her. _'Trust me, they are __**hot.'**_ So Aoi trusted her. However, Murasaki Aoi now deeply regrets placing her trust in Kotori.

"What are they doing?" Aoi muttered, the stench getting to her head and she wrinkled her nose. "When she told me our school has a strong win-win ethos, _**I didn't think it'll be this bad**_."

The training started out innocently enough, light jogging, passes, lay ups, dribbling, _but then the mock games started_. The skills of the players were very good and not just your average 'very good', _it was national level good_. And the players knew they were good, that much was very obvious. The snide remarks, the ease with the high intensity they played at and their camaraderie with each other proved Aoi's 'very good' theory correct, because even Aoi could tell.

"Wow ladies, I say god damn, just _god damn you are good._ Although_…_ It would be nice if Murasakibara-san was a little nicer and spent more effort on making center position look harder. Oh and if Glasses-Guy Number Twelve could be more versatile and behave less like he has a stick up his ass. But then there's that super creepy jerktard playing small forward, he could work on his mannerisms too. _And _if Sir Blue Head could be less obnoxious, that would be nice."

Pause.

"A-ha! Here comes the second strin-gers, _hehe, what jealousy_. As expected, ampersand—oh could this be? Sir Small Forward's true and jerkish nature? Wao, what bastardry." Yep, she thought it would be cool and totally fine if she muttered just a little to herself about the concerns she had. You know, _just a little_, since the benches she was sitting on were relatively empty and only bottles of water and towels were lounging around. Though there were also a few odd girls near the entrance, giggling at their phones and occasionally calling out praise at the alley hoops and dunks.

So let us place quotation marks on '_relatively empty', _because Akashi Seijuro decided to retire and observe his team with Nijimura near the muttering crazie.

Still, Aoi didn't notice (her observational skills were not as cool as she thought they were) and she continued to watch with a poker face. _The gall of these people…!_ Her internal feelings started churning up with her inner jury slamming the hammer of justice down with a rawr_. Ah! People this cool should not exist!_

"I beg your pardon?"

_Uh oh._

Akashi Seijuro was royally upset. He had never seen this student around and his princely instincts were going 'cha-cha' at her muttering, **because her habits annoyed him**. Her speech pattern was weird, undignified and western; her fiddling was like a form of controlled anger release and her indirect insults at his _very good_ team was making Akashi Seijuro very upset. He was a force to be beckoned with when he is insulted. Akashi's family is _very financially generous,_ so he has enough money on hand to go out to some shady streets, pick up a few Yakuzu men and 'clean out the trash'. And as we repeated earlier, _**he was royally upset**_. Not just 'upset' as in _upset_, but 'upset' as in he was upset enough to start pickin' fights with a girl. A volatile and super-incredibly-incoherent girl named Murasaki Aoi. And for a few seconds, said girl contemplated not answering, but she pushed that aside and slammed a '**COWARDLY'** label on it.

However, when Aoi turned to face the confronter, the next problem she had was worse.

She was confronted with a pair of wide and impassive eyes as sharp and vivid as frozen amber, it took her breath away. _And so her immaculate planning crashed and burned into a field of treacle._ His irises were narrow and held a dark intensity that made her feel terribly stone cold. Nonetheless, they were as vibrant as poppies and appeared to have flown right out of a painting. They were amazing and they made her falter completely. Such beauty, **such richness**.

She hated them.

Hated that look of downright disdain, hated that hard stare which told her everything he believed she needed to know—and he was right, he knew more than her_._ His eyes said words he needn't to have spoken. They told of everything he knew, everything he knew that he knew and everything he knew she didn't know. Hated them. So she tore away her mind from his pretty eyes, but the next thing she noticed was his sanguine hair. Aoi blinked. The gears in her brain whirled away with a frenzy in order to pin point that sensation of familiarity. And then it clicked.

Her eyes widened and she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Upon recognition, her composure immediately changed, "Ah- You must be Akashi, Akashi Seijuro, vice-captain of this club, right?" For a good manipulation measure, she fluttered her eyelashes and peered at him from under her dark lashes delicately. She prayed he was not taking offense at her earlier words.

Disdain.

Aoi faltered once again, _Wow, what a stuck up guy._ She can't really talk though. _I suppose this would be called 'not according to plan'? Hah, he is good. Placed first overall in the whole school if I recall correctly. I say, god damn._

"Well, I mean, it is very nice to meet you and all, but I eh, I-Oh! I have the most important meeting with-with the uh, Shogi Club!" The moment she finished talking, Akashi's pretty eyes changed and dived into a glinting smirk-with-the-eyes. Aoi's smile fell off her face, _He obviously just saw through my lie_.

She hated his all-knowing stare. Hated it.

_This calls for plan B. _"O-kay, please have a wonderful day, **Sei-kun**, because I really have to-"

"A match," An impassive quirk of the corner of his lips made her pale, _That smirk is so un-natural! Monster! Yokai! Bakemono!_ "One on one in a Shogi match." _Ah! He didn't even react to 'Sei-kun'! Well I'm so-rry Sir Rich Pants but I can't believe he didn't do anything about Sei-kun! I ain't got no time for this squabble!_

However, could she afford to be certain about her assumptions? Was he really pissed? Did he honestly challenge her to a game of Shogi?

"Unless… You are too scared?"

Aoi puffed her cheeks out in indignation, "Of cause not! **But some of us have a schedule to follow.**" Akashi Seijuro is very good at mind games, which was a fact she was certain about. However, he must also be a wonderful faker. So did he expose the obviousness deliberately? Surely he could have hidden his knowledge of her assumptions? Made it seem like he was not aware of what she was doing?

Aoi's eyes drifted over to behind Akashi's shoulder, where the window exposed the setting sun.

The setting sun.

**The sun was setting.**

_**The sun is lowering itself into dark oblivion and soon enough nightfall will come!**_

"Ah! Fishsticks! I am so very, very sorry Akashi-san, but you—" Aoi flapped her hands desperately in the direction of the window. "I _really, really _need to go, I mean—"

His smirked made her blood run cold once again, "Then very well," He turned to face the court and the captain, "Nijimura-senpai, we should stop here today."

Aoi wanted to die.

She was going to die.

The sun was setting.

She was going behind schedule.

She was gonna die.

Die.

_Just kill me now._

"Hah?" Nijimura raised a thin eyebrow at Akashi and then he glanced at Aoi, "Fine then." He picked the pink whistle that hang around his neck, blew in it loudly and demanded, "That's it for today! We are stopping here."

_Kill me now._

/End. Humid.


End file.
